ODISHA GOVERNMENT TO MAKE AADHAR CARD MANDATORY FOR PROCUREMENT OF PADDY

In a bid to maintain transparency and ensure quick payment of dues, the Odisha government has decided to make Aadhar Card mandatory for procurement of paddy in the state.

In a meeting at the state secretariat in Bhubaneswar held on 11 August 2016, it was decided to link Aadhaar cards of farmers to the cooperative banks and the peasants’ accounts for online transfer of cost of paddy to be procured from the coming kharif season.

Both farmers and sharecroppers would link their Aadhaar cards for online payment of paddy cost. This apart, the government has also decided to link Aadhaar numbers of beneficiaries for availing ration under National Food Security Scheme and work under MG-NREGA.

So far 68 percent people have already availed Aadhar Card and others would be provided with the same before November 2016.

Gaofen-3 is a high-resolution satellite for the protection of its maritime rights as the South China Sea dispute continues to simmer.

Highlights of the Gaofen-3 Satellite

• It is also China's first low orbit remote sensing satellite that has a lifespan of eight years.

• It will be used for disaster warning, weather forecasting, water resource assessments, and the protection of maritime rights.

• With 12 imaging modes, the high-definition observation satellite is capable of taking wide pictures of the Earth and photographing detailed scenarios of specific areas.

• It is able to provide high-definition remote sensing data for its users over a long period of time.

• It was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, under the guidance of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

LOK SABHA PASSES EMPLOYEE’S COMPENSATION (AMENDMENT) BILL 2016

The Lok Sabha passed the Employee’s Compensation (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to reduce litigation in cases of disputes arising over compensation to workers.

The Bill seeks to amend the Employee’s Compensation Act, 1923. This law provides payment of compensation to employees and their dependents in the case of injury by industrial accidents, including occupational diseases.

Provisions of the Bill

• It makes it mandatory for employer to inform the employee of his right to compensation under the parent Act. Such information must be given in writing in Hindi, English or relevant official language at the time of employment.

• It penalises an employer if he fails to inform his employee of his right to compensation. Such penalty may be between fifty thousand to one lakh rupees.

• Any dispute related to an employee’s compensation will be heard by a Commissioner, only if the amount in dispute is ten thousand rupees. It allows Union Government to further raise this amount.

• It deletes the provision of withholding payments towards the employee if an employer has appealed against a Commissioner’s order in High Court.

The Maternity Benefit Bill amends provisions related to the duration and applicability of maternity leave, and other facilities. The existing Act regulates the employment of women during the period of child birth, and provides maternity benefits. It applies to factory, mines, plantations, shops and other establishments.

Highlights of the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016

• Duration of maternity leave: It seeks to raise maternity leave for working women from existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children.

Under the existing Act, this maternity benefit should not be availed before six weeks from the date of expected delivery. The Bill changes this to eight weeks.

In case of a woman who has two or more children, the maternity benefit will continue to be 12 weeks, which cannot be availed before six weeks from the date of the expected delivery.

The 12-week period of maternity benefit will be calculated from the date the child is handed over to the adoptive or commissioning mother.

A commissioning mother is defined as a biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo implanted in another woman.

At present, the Maternity Benefit Act does not provide any maternity leave for commissioning or adopting mothers.

• Option to work from home: The Bill introduces a provision that states that an employer may permit a woman to work from home. This would apply if the nature of work assigned to the woman permits her to work from home. This option can be availed of, after the period of maternity leave, for a duration that is mutually decided by the employer and the woman.

• Crèche facilities: The Bill introduces a provision which requires every establishment with 50 or more employees to provide crèche facilities within a prescribed distance. The woman will be allowed four visits to the crèche in a day. This will include her interval for rest.

Informing women employees of the right to maternity leave: The Bill introduces a provision which requires every establishment to intimate a woman at the time of her appointment of the maternity benefits available to her. Such communication must be in writing and electronically.

Background

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 11, 2016 by the Minister for Labour and Employment, Bandaru Dattatreya.

The amendment bill is applicable to all establisments employing 10 or more persons. It asks for creche facility for establishment where the number of workers is 50 and above.

The amendments will help around 18 lakh women workforce in organised sector.

DIPIKA PALLIKAL WINS AUSTRALIAN OPEN SQUASH 2016 TITLE

India's top squash player Dipika Pallikal won the Australian Open Squash women’s singles title in Melbourne.

To win the title, the top seed Dipika defeated eighth seed Mayar Hany of Egypt 10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 in the 40-minute final.

For Dipika, this was the first title win in 2016. Earlier, in February 2015, she won the Winnipeg Winter Open in Canada.

About Dipika Pallikal

• She is the first Indian to break into the top 10 in the PSA Women's rankings.

• Dipika came to prominence in 2011, when she won three WISPA tour titles to attain a career-best ranking of 13th.

• In the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow, she won the women’s doubles titles pairing with Joshna Chinappa.

• She became the first squash player to receive prestigious Arjuna Award in 2012. In 2014, she won Padma Shri honour.

NASA SELECTS SIX COMPANIES TO DEVELOP PROTOTYPES AND CONCEPTS FOR DEEP SPACE HABITATS

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) selected six U.S. companies to develop ground prototypes and concepts for deep space habitats. This will help in advancing the Journey to Mars.

NASA and industry partners will expand commercial development of space in low-Earth orbit. In addition, they will also work towards improving deep space exploration capabilities to support more extensive human spaceflight missions.

The six companies are:

• Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas

• Boeing of Pasadena, Texas

• Lockheed Martin of Denver

• Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia

• Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems of Louisville, Colorado

• NanoRacks of Webster, Texas

Key highlights

• Full-sized ground prototypes and concepts for deep space habitats will be developed under the second Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) Broad Agency Announcement (NextSTEP-2).

• An effective habitat comprises a pressurized volume plus an integrated array of complex systems and components that include a docking capability, Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS), logistics management etc.

• The ground prototypes will allow NASA and the partners to evaluate configurations of the habitat, how the various systems interact together and with other capabilities like propulsion modules and airlocks.

• It will also provide platforms to test and ensure the standards and common interfaces being considered are well thought out.

• The ground prototypes will be used for three primary purposes: supporting integrated systems testing, human factors and operations testing, and to help define overall system functionality.